B.D. Netten, R.A. Vingerhoeds

• EADOCS (Expert Assisted Design of Composite Structures) is the implementation of a multi-level approach to conceptual design. Constraint-, case- and rule-based reasoning techniques are applied in different design phases to assemble and adapt designs at increasing levels of detail. This paper describes a strategic approach to decomposition, formulation of target design problems, and incremental retrieval and adaptation. Design problems considered, cannot be decomposed dynamically into tractable subproblems. Design cases are retrieved for requirements and preferences on both functionality and the solution. Cases are adapted in three phases: adaptation, modification and optimisation.